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Starting a new fitness routine can be tough, but sticking to it until you have achieved your goals ends up being virtually impossible for some people. Here are some tips to help you stay the distance:

1. Set realistic challenges and measurable goals for yourself

2. Celebrate your successes, such as achieving a goal or sticking to your routine for a certain amount of time

3. Choose activities you know you’ll enjoy, as you may want to stick with it more if its fun

4. Take a balanced approach (i.e. mixing up balance, aerobic, flexibility and strength activities) to prevent injury and keep things fresh

5. Find an exercise buddy, someone who won’t quit and won’t let you quit either

Starting a new exercise regime can be tough, especially if you don’t have the right equipment. It can be even more challenging if you aren’t in the right frame of mind, as getting fit requires both motivation and dedication.

To make sure you stick to your fitness regime once you’ve started it, you need to either get the best equipment you can afford or cough up for gym membership. Exercise machines and other fitness equipment (including clothes, shoes and even fitness programmes like the Wii Fit) can be very expensive, and gym prices can be astronomical, so you’re going to need some extra cash.

You may be surprised to learn that online bingo may be the answer to your cash-flow situation, providing you with a fun, fast and relatively risk-free way of earning enough to buy some new gym equipment.

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Try out posh bingo to see if it’s for you, but if not there are plenty of other great options at ohmybingo.com.

There’s a lot of buzz at the moment about Zumba, the brand new dance-based fitness program. In fact, many people are now lauding it as one of the most fun and social ways to get in shape and burn some calories.

What is it?

Zumba is a dance fitness program which incorporates elements of interval training, fast and slow rhythms and resistance training. It originally comes from Columbia but has spread like wildfire throughout the UK and the world.

There are even variations on the original workout – Zumba Toning (body-sculpting sessions), Aqua Zumba and Zumbatomic (Zumba for children aged 4 to 12).

You might have heard some fuss in the health and fitness world recently about kettlebells. But what the heck are they, and are they effective as a training tool?

Kettlebells in brief

A kettlebell is traditionally a cast iron weight which is used to perform exercises which have elements of cardiovascular and flexibility training as well as just strength. Looking a bit like a cannonball with a convenient handle, kettlebells can weigh anything from 1.8kg to 79kg.

The kettlebell workout, traditionally saved for your moustachioed strongman, is experiencing a comeback. The swinging motion using the correct technique can burn as much as 500 calories in a 30 minute session, and use of the kettlebells gives you an all-round fitness boost.

We’ve all heard of the Atkins Diet, and apparently some celebs swear by the maple syrup detox diet or the blood type diet… The list is seemingly endless, and as soon as one seemingly wacky approach to food is discredited, another pops up to take its place.

Conflicting information reigns supreme, so no wonder our relationship with food has become even further warped as we struggle to understand how to feed ourselves healthily. Apparently some of us are becoming so obsessed with these strange food fads, where certain food groups are favoured or others are completely cut out of our diet, that it now has a name: orthorexia.

Orthorexia, or an obsession with eating the right food, doesn’t sound too harmful in itself. The problem lies in the many different fads and myths that circulate. All it takes is a celebrity endorsement or an ill-informed story and people jump on the bandwagon in the hope of transforming themselves into healthier and happier people.

Unfortunately this isn’t always the result. Any obsession with diet can become unhealthy, and when entire food groups are omitted from the diet, serious deficiencies can result. Although the Atkins diet should only be followed for restricted periods of time, I know of someone who carried on obsessively for two years.

The major health issues may start to become apparent in the years to come, as those who have rejected dairy products start to see the effects that lack of calcium has on bones and teeth, for example.

The rumours that sparked the comeback are, as usual, about celebrities! It would appear that 80s exercise craze Callanetics is enjoying a comeback in the UK following suggestions that regular practise helps Madonna to stay looking fit and youthful.

The exercise method was developed by Callan Pinckney in response to the physical difficulties she encountered having been born with spinal curvatures.

According to its founder, this method increases strength and flexibility throughout the whole body. Those who practise regularly claim that it is highly effective at toning muscles quickly – more so than methods like aerobics, and the official website states that the program ‘is so remarkably effective that just one hour of Callanetics exercises has the tightening and lifting value of 20 hours of aerobics’.

Another claim is that when done correctly, Callanetics is virtually injury free – it isn’t a high impact sport and can therefore be practised by those who maybe feel they are more physically fragile.

Apparently demand for classes in some parts of the UK has risen by over a third in the last three years, so dig out your dusty old VHS (or maybe just get yourself a new DVD) or look up your local class and hop on the bandwagon!

Life today can feel like one big marathon. Between work, family and your social life it really can seem like there are never enough hours in the day. Our 24 hour culture means we are always on the go, and while this may be exciting, it can also wear us down.

Funny then, that a possible antidote to this is a discipline invented more than 2500 years ago…

Think Yoga, and you may be inclined to associate it with hippy dippy types or celebrity mums like Gwyneth Paltrow and decide that it’s not for you. And yet, it works on the person as a whole, aiming to improve physical, mental, and emotional aspects. It achieves this through breath control, positions and meditation, and can be practised by people of all ages and physical abilities.

It’s not all about trying to tie yourself in knots, and because it is not competitive you are actively encouraged to take things at your own pace. Benefits from regular practise include:

• Toning and strengthening of muscles and internal organs
• Improving breathing
• Better concentration
• Stretching, which improves flexibility
• Ability to relax & be more aware of self and environment

It can be surprisingly demanding, and beginners need instruction in order to avoid bad habits and possible injury, as with any new sport. There are different schools of thought with different approaches too, so it’s worth having a look around at books and dvds on the market before settling on your choice, although the best place to start is always with a reputable teacher.

Have you ever heard of AMD? A poll of 4000 people carried out by the College of Optometrists found that half of the people questioned had never heard of it, despite the fact that over 500,000 people suffer from it in the UK.

AMD, or age-related macular degeneration, is a condition that most often affects the eye-sight of people over 40. As its name suggests, it is a degenerative condition which destroys the cells of the macula in the retina. Sufferers complain of a black spot appearing in their vision, which gradually increases in size.

The number of sufferers in the UK is expected to rise by 25% over the next ten years, mostly due to our longer life spans, and yet there are steps we can take to reduce the risk of developing this disease.

This poll found that a high proportion of smokers were unaware that their habit could significantly increase their chances of developing AMD, and 50% of those questioned did not know the important role that diet can play in maintaining healthy eyes.

Research by doctors from Harvard Medical School has found that one or two portions of fish per week can help prevent the appearance of this black spot. This is being attributed to the presence of omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish like tinned tuna and salmon.

Whilst longer life expectancies will mean that we see increases in many health problems in the coming years, this poll and the findings of this research serve as a reminder of the importance of a healthy and balanced diet in the prevention of illness.

Part of being fit and healthy is detoxing the body, getting rid of all the bad stuff inside you. There are a few different ways to detox depending on what suits your lifestyle. You can go on a detox diet and eat particular foods and drink detox drinks. Alternatively, if your keen on the gym you can take detox supplements and vitamins, or natural herb supplements to help with growth rather than some of those supplements out there that are full of rubbish your body doesn;t need or want.

Detoxing is a great way of losing weight as your avoiding a lot of bad foods, and drinks that tend to pile the pounds onto those areas where it is very difficult to remove them. If you want to more about detoxing your body and natural supplements then let us know.

There are many different forms of fitness. Walking might not be the most strenuous activity, but it can actually do you a lot of good.

Hillwalking is an incredibly high energy pursuit. As you tend to be walking for long hours, you will find you burn a lot of calories. This is good for keeping your weight down and it can also build strength and condition your joints for more robust forms of exercise, like distance running.

Ideally, you should take part in a range of exercises. Don’t overlook something as simple as walking, thinking that it is easy. It provides a good base fitness for other forms of exercise.